Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 21, 28, 30, 32-34, and 36-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bowser (US 4627564), in view of Olden et al. (US 6418601).
Re Claim 21, Bowser discloses a stud plate connector (SPC) movement system, comprising: a first rail 16, a second rail 36 and a third rail 36 attached to a base plate 15, the base plate 15 is attached to a mount 12, 14; a pair of contact members 34, 108 connected to the first rail 16, the pair of contact members 34, 108 configured to hold and move a first piece of lumber C to contact a second piece of lumber W; a first gripper 26 connected to the second rail 36; a second gripper 28 connected to the third rail 36, the first and second grippers 26, 28 are configured to hold the second piece of lumber W in place while the first piece of lumber C is made to contact the second piece of lumber W; and a nail plate P configured to driven through both the first and second pieces of lumber C, W to bond the first and second pieces of lumber C, W together (Col. 4, Lines 33-60; Col. 5, Lines 3-26; Col. 5, Line 36-Col. 6, Line 59; Figs. 1-5). Bowser does not disclose a nail gun attached to the mount, the nail gun is configured to drive a nail through both the first and second pieces of lumber to bond the first and second pieces of lumber together.
Olden discloses a stud plate connector (SPC) movement system, comprising: a first rail 40, a second rail 34 and a third rail 36 attached to a base plate 30, the base plate 30 is attached to a mount 12; a pair of contact members 52 connected to the first rail 40, the pair of contact members 52 configured to hold a first piece of lumber S to contact a second piece of lumber T (Col. 4, Lines 19-65; Col. 5, Line 52-Col. 6, Line 30; Figs. 1-6); and a nail gun (not shown), the nail gun is configured to drive a nail through both the first and second pieces of lumber S, T to bond the first and second pieces of lumber S, T together (Col. 8, Lines 7-32). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Bowser by providing a nail gun attached to the mount as an alternative means of securing the pieces of lumber.
Re Claim 28, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. Bowser discloses a first actuator 70 connected to the first rail 16, the first actuator 70 pivotally mounted to the base plate 15, the first actuator 70 is configured to move the pair of contact members 34, 108 to hold and move the first piece of lumber C to contact the second piece of lumber W (Col. 7, Lines 11-35 and Col. 8, Line 53-Col. 9, Line 30, Figs. 4 and 5).
Re Claim 30, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. Bowser discloses a second actuator 50 connected to the second rail 36; and a third actuator 50 connected to the third rail 36, the second and third actuators 50 mounted to the base plate 15, the second and third actuators 50 are configured to move the first and second grippers 26, 28 to hold the second piece of lumber W in place while the first piece of lumber C is made to contact the second piece of lumber W (Col. 6, Lines 60-68; Figs. 4 and 5). Bowser does not explicitly disclose the second and third actuators are pivotally mounted to the base plate. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art to pivotally mount the second and third actuators to the base plate because Applicant has not disclosed that pivotally mounting the second and third actuators provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose or solves a stated problem. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with either actuator configuration because both perform the same function of actuating the grippers. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the invention of Bowser to obtain the invention as specified in claim 30.
Re Claim 32, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose a nail drum attached to the mount and adjacent to the nail gun. Olden does however disclose a nail gun (Not shown) the nail gun is configured to drive a nail through both the first and second pieces of lumber S, T to bond the first and second pieces of lumber S, T together (Col. 8, Lines 7-32). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a nail drum as claimed to provide nails to the nail gun to attach the first and second pieces of lumber.
Re Claim 33, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. Bowser discloses a plurality of carriages 22, 24 connecting the pair of contact members 34, 108 to the first rail 16 (See figures 4 and 5).
Re Claim 34, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. Bowser discloses a plurality of carriages 56 connecting the first and second grippers 26, 28 to the second and third rails 36 (Col. 6, Lines 42-59; Figs. 4 and 5).
Re Claim 36, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose the base plate comprises machined steel. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a base plate comprised of machined steel because Applicant has not disclosed that utilizing said material provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose or solves a stated problem. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with either base plate because both perform the same function of supporting the SPC system. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the invention of Bowser to obtain the invention as specified in claim 36.
Re Claim 37, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. Bowser discloses the first 16 , second and third rails 36 comprise linear rails (See figures 1-5).
Re Claim 38, the combination as applied to claim 21 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses the nail gun is configured to drive a nail at a region of the second piece of lumber that overlaps the first piece of lumber to bond the first and second pieces of lumber S, T together (See Olden, Col. 8, Lines 7-32, Fig. 6).
Re Claim 39, Bowser discloses a method for joining lumber W, C, the method comprising: receiving a first piece of lumber C via a pair of contact members 34, 108 connected to a first rail 16, the pair of contact members 34, 108 configured to hold and move a first piece of lumber C to contact a second piece of lumber W; receiving a second piece of lumber W via a first gripper 26 connected to the second rail 36, and a second gripper 28 connected to the third rail 36, the first and second grippers 26, 28 are configured to hold the second piece of lumber W in place while the first piece of lumber C is made to contact the second piece of lumber W and bonding the first piece of lumber C with the second piece of lumber W using a nail plate P; a mount 12 attached to a base plate 15, the nail plate is configured to drive a nail through both the first and second pieces of lumber C, W to bond the first and second pieces of lumber C, W together (Col. 4, Lines 33-60; Col. 5, Lines 3-26; Col. 5, Line 36-Col. 6, Line 59; Figs. 1-5). Bowser does not explicitly disclose a nail gun coupled to a mount.
Olden discloses a method for joining lumber S, T, the method comprising: receiving a first piece of lumber S via a pair of contact members 52 connected to a first rail 40, the pair of contact members 52 configured to hold a first piece of lumber S to contact a second piece of lumber T (Col. 4, Lines 19-65; Col. 5, Line 52-Col. 6, Line 30; Figs. 1-6); bonding the first piece of lumber S with the second piece of lumber T using a nail gun (not shown), the nail gun is configured to drive a nail through both the first and second pieces of lumber S, T to bond the first and second pieces of lumber together (Col. 8, Lines 7-32). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Bowser by providing a nail gun attached to the mount as an alternative means of securing the pieces of lumber.
Re Claim 40, the combination as applied to claim 39 remains as previously applied. Bowser discloses using a first actuator 70 to move the pair contact members 34, 108 to hold and move the first piece of lumber C to contact the second piece of lumber W, the first actuator 70 is pivotally mounted to the base plate 15 (Col. 7, Lines 11-35 and Col. 8, Line 53-Col. 9, Line 30, Figs. 4 and 5); and using a second actuator 50 connected to the second rail 36, and a third actuator 50 connected to the third rail 36 to move the first and second grippers 26, 28 to hold the second piece of lumber W in place while the first piece of lumber C is made to contact the second piece of lumber W (Col. 6, Lines 60-68; Figs. 4 and 5). Bowser does not explicitly disclose the second and third actuators are pivotally mounted to the base plate. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art to pivotally mount the second and third actuators to the base plate because Applicant has not disclosed that pivotally mounting the second and third actuators provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose or solves a stated problem. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with either actuator configuration because both perform the same function of actuating the grippers. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the invention of Bowser to obtain the invention as specified in claim 39.
Claim(s) 29 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bowser (US 4627564), in view of Olden et al. (US 6418601), in further view of Bellissimo et al. (US 2024/0051178 A1).
Re Claim 29, the combination as applied to claim 28 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose feedback sensors mounted onto the first actuator; the feedback sensors are configured to limit a stroke of the first actuator during operation.
Bellissimo discloses a stud plate connector (SPC) movement system, comprising: feedback sensors mounted onto a first actuator 630, the feedback sensors are configured to limit a stroke of the first actuator 630 during operation (Par. 0100). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the invention of Bowser with feedback sensors as disclosed by Bellissimo to limit a stroke of the first actuator.
Re Claim 31, the combination as applied to claim 30 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose feedback sensors mounted onto the second and third actuators, the feedback sensors are configured to limit a stroke of the second and third actuators during operation.
Bellissimo discloses a stud plate connector (SPC) movement system, comprising: feedback sensors mounted onto an actuator 630, the feedback sensors are configured to limit a stroke of the actuator 630 during operation (Par. 0100). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the invention of Bowser with feedback sensors as disclosed by Bellissimo on the second and third actuators, to limit a stroke of the second and third actuators.
Claim Objections
Claims 22-27 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/BAYAN SALONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726